Concerned with safety and neighborhood compatibility, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday asked the developers of a controversial proposed development in Isla Vista to rework the plan before it can be approved.

The supervisors continued Tuesday’s hearing, asking the developers to look into improving parking conditions and capping the number of residents renting a bedroom for the project slated for 6737 Sueno Road.

Board chair and Second District Supervisor Laura Capps said she appreciated that the developers would offer four below-market-rate units and parking, but that the project missed the mark.

“We need a project in this place, but we also need to not just say that our hands are tied when it comes to parking,” Capps said. “We have plans in the works, but it takes developers who benefit from the financial factors of these developments to be part of the solutions, even when they’re not necessarily required to be.”

The proposal includes a three-story building with 13 three-bedroom units and three two-bedroom units, for a total of 45 bedrooms, 24 parking spaces, 48 bike lockers and 52 bike racks. The project is being developed by Ed St. George in partnership with Isla Vista Church.

The Board of Supervisors reviewed the project after Isla Vista residents Pegeen and Jon Soutar appealed the county Planning Commission’s approval of the three-story project, arguing that the development would worsen already dangerous traffic conditions and congested parking, especially with 48 other housing projects proposed for Isla Vista.

The appeal seemed like a long shot for the Soutars, who were up against state housing laws that are meant to force the county to approve projects that offer any kind of affordability, but the county supervisors said they needed to look at the big picture.

A single-family home currently sits on the project site, at 6737 Sueno Road, and is surrounded by other single-family homes and small two-story multifamily buildings. That side of Isla Vista has smaller buildings and mostly single-family homes, while the east side of Isla Vista is known more for larger high-density buildings.

Capps said she wouldn’t be as concerned if the project was around more of the larger high-density housing buildings.

Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann said there was “no way in hell” she could support the project.

As students tend to cram into housing, sharing one room among three people, Hartmann said she wanted to see a condition that prohibits landlords from renting to more people than they have the space to accommodate.

“Otherwise, we are in a situation there where you’ve got a lot of predatory landlords and students are desperate, and they will pay the high rents and they will crowd in,” Hartmann said.

Per the county’s coastal plan policy, developments are supposed to have 80 square feet in bedrooms per person living in that bedroom.

The development proposal includes 24 parking spots, which would contribute 20% of the 120 proposed parking spaces throughout Isla Vista, despite the fact that the developers legally didn’t have to include any parking.

“It seems a little misguided to go after this project when it is providing a disproportionate share of proposed parking,” said Lonnie Roy, the land use agent for the project.

Roy argued that if the county denied the project because of the parking, no housing would be built in Isla Vista as developers wouldn’t be able to produce enough parking for the county’s standards.

“There will be continued overcrowding, continued high rental rates, depriving residents of the ability to have new housing units,” Roy said.

Jason Lomelino lives on the project site with his family and is the pastor for Isla Vista Church, which is co-developing the project with St. George. When the project is eventually built, he and his family would be living on site managing the building. 

“What Isla Vista needs more than anything is a healthy alternative community,” Lomelino said. “This is what my wife and I have helped create in the last two decades and what we will continue to create living at this apartment complex.”

Numerous members of Isla Vista Church spoke during public comment in support of the Lomelinos, saying how much the family and the church have benefited their lives. 

However, the Sueno Road housing project is not specifically designated for church members or sober living. 

Pegeen Soutar, who lives next to the proposed development and appealed the project to the supervisors, said she supported more housing, but that it needed to be well planned. 

“What’s being proposed in this project is excessive,” Soutar said. “The additional cars generated by this project at 6737 will have a direct effect on the health and safety of our community. The streets in Isla Vista are already over capacity.”

Janet Stitch, an Isla Vista resident for the past 25 years, spoke during public comment in support of the Soutars’ appeal, saying she was worried about adding more vehicles to the community.

“I call the CHP (California Highway Patrol) multiple times a year to tow cars completely blocking my driveway,” Stitch said. “I’ve been unable to get my husband to the emergency room because of a blocked driveway. On an average of four days every week, I have a partially blocked driveway.”

The county Planning Commission previously approved the project in a split vote in April. 

Tuesday’s hearing will be continued at a later date.